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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28699533">And Then There Were Three</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kbdizzle/pseuds/Kbdizzle'>Kbdizzle</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Three of Us [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Family Bonding, Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Self Confidence Issues, Smallest sprinkle of angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:40:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,467</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28699533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kbdizzle/pseuds/Kbdizzle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Will moves in with his best friend and his crus- his best friend's fiancee. Antics ensue.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray, Jem Carstairs/Tessa Gray/Will Herondale, Jem Carstairs/Will Herondale, Tessa Gray/Will Herondale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Three of Us [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103705</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>And Then There Were Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a dark and stormy night, or at least that's how Will would recall it in his mind when he moved in with his best friend and his cru- his best friend's fiancee. Having been hit by the struggling writer curse, Will found that not meeting deadlines eventually meant not being able to make ends meet, and well nearly 8 months later here he was tucked away in what Tessa and Jem have graciously labeled as "the office" which was more of a glorified storage room with a desk and a chair before Will moved in. As cramped as he was standing at a solid 6'2 (**cough** 5'8), Tessa and Jem insisted on letting WIll create a space that was truly his own. He didn't bother to decorate - the goal always being to either move-out or get kicked out, but before he knew it, his work and coffee mug stains had made their mark in this little room. Will stared at said coffee stain on his desk. If he lifted some of his papers, there'd be a smear of white nail polish on the corner, a fond reminder of one of the rarer times Tessa had graced him with her presence and in his attempt to say something witty and get her to stay he ended up knocking over the nail polish bottle. On the farthest wall opposite his bed was a bookcase with obnoxiously bright sticky notes peaking out of a seemingly random array of books - teasingly friendly notes from Jem reminding him to rest, clean his room, or take a shower because he smelled. Sometimes Jem would come in and sit on his bed mulling over compositions while WIll sat at the desk, other times it would be Tessa, who'd dumped herself into Will's horrid bean bag chair, with a good book. They had created a comfortable existence between the three of them this way, Whatever it was between them it was a soft and quiet thing, something Will worked hard not to disrupt despite the ever-present thought in the back of his head that this was temporary, that whatever this was, was not his to keep.A soft knock pulled him out of his reverie.</p>
<p><br/>"Go away I'm busy," called Will sounding quite the opposite. His reply was met with a quiet scoff and the twisting of the doorknob as Jem bodily shuffled his way through the door (Will has proudly never kept a clean room), holding two mugs of what Will hoped was coffee, alas it was hot chocolate, but it came from Jem so he'll take it.</p>
<p><br/>"You have no manners," said Will shaking his head, but his voice lacked any heat. " "I told you I was busy, you have no idea what I could have been doing."</p>
<p><br/>"what muttering to yourself or procrastinating, those are the only options."</p>
<p><br/>"Or reciting the Treaty of Westphalia stark naked, you never know with me."</p>
<p><br/>"Well, then I'm glad it was me who knocked instead of Tessa, I would hate to scar her like that."</p>
<p><br/>"On the contrary, I'm sure she'd appreciate my love of history and the art that is my sculptured physique."</p>
<p><br/>"Uh-huh"</p>
<p><br/>They lapsed into amused silence. Jem settling on the edge of Will's bed as he is prone to do, and Will twirling in his desk chair to face him. This was their dynamic, soft teasing and quiet musings. Tessa was always a delicate subject for WIll. What Jem didn't know certainly wouldn't hurt him, and feigning good-natured brotherly teasing when she came up in conversation was the best Will could do. Although, he'd like nothing more than to spend hours suggesting horridly sweet refrains of the exact shade of her eyes with Jem's help. Another knock bit through their comfortable silence</p>
<p>"Speak of the devil, and they shall appear," said Will loud enough to make sure Tessa heard it. Tessa entered with an eye roll that could rival that of his little sister Cecily and the scent of lavender.</p>
<p><br/>"I have always preferred the cold," referring to her and Will's ongoing debate whether Hell is hot or cold. Will geared up to challenge but was caught off guard by the sight of Jem reaching up to pull Tessa down to sit next to him on Will's bed. Will swallowed hard, his challenge forgotten as the sight of the two of them on his bed certainly fed his imagination. He killed the thought before it had time to grow. This wasn't his, the distance between him and them a stark reminder of that.</p>
<p><br/>"What? Will gets hot chocolate and I don't?" Said Tessa turning to look at Jem, her voice hiking with false betrayal.</p>
<p><br/>Will felt a smirk tug at his mouth, "What can I say," he began with a nonchalant shrug, "Bro before ho-" He was promptly silenced with a pillow to face.</p>
<p><br/>"Fiances before little gremlins," said Tessa, falling into Jem's side as she tried to dodge Will's return attack.</p>
<p><br/>"You guys are gonna make me drop my hot chocolate."</p>
<p><br/>"The hot chocolate you so rudely only gave to Will."</p>
<p><br/>"False, I left the rest on the stove. It's not my fault you were on the phone"</p>
<p><br/>"Who cares about your hot chocolate Jem, can we go back to the part where your fiancee called me a gremlin."</p>
<p><br/>"Can we go back to the part where Jem didn't give me hot chocolate."</p>
<p><br/>"I did not forget to give you hot chocolate - stop that!" Cried Jem as a particularly bad throw almost had him spilling his mug all over Will's bed, "you two are impossible," said Jem, fondly exasperated, standing up to assumedly grab Tessa her own mug.</p>
<p><br/>"I'll be back," Said Jem, edging his way past Will's disaster of a workspace. Will and Tessa stared at each other in the space of Jem's absence.</p>
<p><br/>"Gremlin."</p>
<p><br/>"Nerd."</p>
<p><br/>"Psychopath!"</p>
<p><br/>"Snob!"</p>
<p><br/>Tessa gasped, her eyebrows raised, half offended half-amused, she reached behind her to chuck another pillow but Will was quicker, standing up and striding over to catch her wrist, perhaps with a little too much force as the motion sent Tessa backward falling onto the bed with Will precariously holding himself above her, his face inches away from her, his mind painfully aware of how close her mouth was to his. How many times would they find themselves in this position, thought Will? Metaphorically, of course, he certainly would never make his feelings for Tessa or Jem, for that matter clear, but how many times would the three of them find themselves in these situations? Where if their lives had been different it would be so easy to lean in and let go. He stared down at Tessa's face, acutely aware of the fact that she had yet to push him off of her. After all, she certainly had the time, and yet she looked lost and painfully wistful for a moment, just a moment. It looked like she was about to say something but whatever it was it was interrupted by the squeak of the door opening. Jem stopped short at the sight of them, Will seemingly pinning Tessa to the bed and Tessa wide-eyed, but unresistant, they both stared back like deers caught in headlights. But Jem merely rolled his eyes, scoffing at the two of them.</p>
<p><br/>"I leave for two seconds and you two are wrestling each other like children, have some decorum, will you."</p>
<p>There was something there underneath Jem's words that Will deliberately chose not to contemplate and instead hurled himself off of Tessa, falling to the floor with a grunt in the process, whatever tension remained broke immediately the three of them bursting into laugher at Will's misfortune, Will sighed, clambering back into his chair.</p>
<p><br/>"Horrible, the two of you, laughing at my own expense."</p>
<p><br/>"It's not our fault you can't stand on your own two feet."</p>
<p><br/>"Does this mean I win our fight? You technically knocked yourself out."</p>
<p><br/>"Not fair Grey I want a rematch"</p>
<p><br/>I don't think a black eye will match Tessa's wedding dress."</p>
<p><br/>"You really think I'd hit a girl!"</p>
<p><br/>"No Will, I was talking about you. You'll look terrible standing next to her in our wedding photos."</p>
<p>That earned Jem a giggle and a kiss on the check from Tessa. Will just shook his head, watching the way Jem's cheeks flushed at Tessa's affection. It was a good look on him. Happiness was a good look on all of them.Will sighed, taking a brief second to close his eyes and center himself. This was enough, it would have to be. Outside the door, a very fat and very grumpy cat jumpingup onto to his usual spot on the windowsill, doing his best to drown out the sounds of laughter that had so rudely woken him from his nap.</p>
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